SK News Point-Live Cricket News-14th November 2016

The same umpire officiates at both ends in Ranji Trophy match; Saeed Ajmal smacked for four sixes in an over; Quinton de Kock says he doesn't try to imitate Adam Gilchrist; Shastri expects India comeback,Match postponed in NZ due to quake; Big Bash League team fined - all the latest cricket news on SK Newspoint!

The same umpire officiates at both ends in Ranji Trophy matchThe Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and UP at Mysore was witness to a rather unusual scenario today. Australian umpire Sam Nogajski was unable to take the field to discharge his duties owing to a bout of food poisoning. Given that there was no other umpire from the BCCI panel at the venue, Virender Sharma was left to officiate from both ends for the entire duration of the day's play.

Sam Nogajski officiates regularly at the BBL and Shield Matches in Australia and has even stood in four women ODI's. He had complained of stomach cramps the previous night and had to be hospitalised.

"The umpire has been admitted in a local hospital at 7 am after he complained of loose motion and stomach ache. The doctors attending him said it is a case of dehydration," KSCA Mysuru Convener Balachandra was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Vejit D was the reserve umpire but he was only permitted to stand at square-leg as he wasn't on the BCCI umpire's panel.

However, this rather bizarre arrangement will cease to exist on the final two days of the match. In consultation with the BCCI, match referee V Narayana Kutty decided to rope in P Jaipla as the replacement for the remainder of the match.

Nepal cricketer Paras Khadkar smacks four sixes in a single over off Saeed Ajmal

Legendary Nepal character Paras Khadkar took Pakistani spin bowler Saeed Ajmal to cleaners on Sunday when he hit four sixes off a single over in a 2X Cricket USA Cup 2016 match. In the match between Nepal Rhinos and Houston Sparks, the right-hander showed no mercy as he was going after every ball in his team's quest for victory in the final match.

Saeed Ajmal hasn't been in the international arena for quite some time now as he last played a Test match in 2014 against Sri Lanka at Colombo. The bowler underwent a change in bowling action after the ICC reported him for suspected bowling action two years ago.

Special bank counter arranged for cricketers

The demonetization drive has had an effect on cricket players too. During the ongoing Ranji Trophy encounter between Karnataka and Rajasthan, many players exchanged the now defunct Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes during the lunch hour break at a specially arranged cash counter at the P.V.G. Raju Cricket Stadium at Chintalavalasa.

This arrangement was made Following an appeal made by the players to collector Vivek Yadav who then asked the lead bank manager to open a special counter at the playground.

Quinton de Kock says he doesn't try to play like Adam Gilchrist

South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been on a fabulous run in the on-going Test series against the Australians. The left-hander is the leading run-scorer in the series having piled up 252 runs with an average of 84.00.

While the cricketing fraternities were quick to draw comparisons between the young South African and the legendary Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, the left-hander has said that he doesn't see himself imitating the former Aussie player.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, he said, "I don't try to play like him, it's just the way I play. I don't see myself being like him, I just see the ball, hit the ball type thing, have my own certain game plan."

Australian team's performance manager Pat Howard has urged the Aussie batsmen to follow former opener, Chris Roger's tactics in terms of approaching a tough game. He started by citing a patient partnership between Rogers and David Warner at Oval in 2015 as an example that many in the current Test set-up could follow.

"Chris was fantastic. You go back to what he and David Warner did at the Oval (in 2015), I think it was 14 runs off 10 overs, they read the situation really well," Howard was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia website.

"That patience and adaptability to read the situation there," he said.

Howard went on to say that the though current Aussie batsmen were talented, they lacked the self-confidence to back themselves.

The BCCI took a bold step on Monday after it decided to scrap the practice of the captain's report after each domestic match. Instead, the board has put the onus squarely on the match referees.

"The match referee also serves as the third umpire. They are in a better position to provide a fair and balanced report with the help of video analysts," a BCCI official was quoted as saying by Times of India.

"It has been done to eliminate any emotion in the reports. A captain can have bias or grudge against the umpire. The referee, in that sense, has nothing at stake," the official said.

The BCCI official said that the move was taken as over the years several captains have been pretty complacent in their reports regarding the umpires and hence it was difficult for the board to assess the umpires.

MSK Prasad welcomes the move of playing cricket in neutral venues

MSK Prasad, the head of the selection committee, has termed that the BCCI's decision of taking the Ranji Trophy matches to the neutral venues as a brave and smart decision. Speaking to Times of India, he said that the neutral venue idea was the biggest revolution in Indian cricket.

"It is the best thing to happen to the game at the domestic level as it has brought in a lot of competitiveness. The biggest advantage of this format is that both teams get to play on an equal footing.'Home advantage' is no longer available and as such the teams have to work out their strategies for each game," Prasad said.

Prasad went on to say that the BCCI was still working on the areas to improve the standard of domestic cricket in India.

Domestic match postponed after earthquake in NZ

A domestic cricket match in Wellington was postponed by at least a day after an earthquake, measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale hit the country. The venue had to be checked for damages, which led to the delay. The match, part of the Plunket Shield, was between Wellington and Central Districts.

Perth Scorchers fined for breaching salary cap

Former Big Bash League champions Perth Scorchers have been fined $5000 (AUD) for breaching the salary cap in last season's Big Bash League. Cricket Australia revealed on Monday that the Western Australia-based side had breached the limit of $1.3 million by $5000.

Iain Roy, the head of CA integrity said that the Big Bash League franchise had self-reported the error made by them.

"Following a thorough investigation, we understand that this was not a purposeful breaching of the rules by the Perth Scorchers, and this has been taken into account for the purpose of fixing an appropriate penalty.

"We do however take a proactive, zero-tolerance approach to maintaining the integrity of our sport and this includes any breaches of salary caps in the BBL. This serves as a timely reminder that the integrity of our game is a high priority and we won't accept this being compromised," he said.